Improvement in shoveling-boards for wagons



, "UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE.

JOHN K. MGLENNAN, OF ELMIRA, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN SHOVELlNG-BOARDS FOR WAGONS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 196,986, dated November13, 1877 application filed September 27, 1877.

To all whom it may concern:

. Elmira, in the county of Stark, in the State of lllinois, haveinvented an Improvement in Checked Shoveling-Boards for Wagons; and dohereby declare that the following is afull, clear, and exact descriptionthereof, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part ofthis specification, in which like letters of reference refer to likeparts, and in which- Figure 1 represents a side elevation as attached toa wagon at the proper angle for shoveling from; Fig. 2, a superficialview of same; Fig. 3, a longitudinal vertical section.

The object of this invention is, first, to make the boardinstantaneously detachable from a wagon; second, to obviate the joint orchink left at the junction of the board with the wagonfloor, forming animpediment to shoveling;

- third, in resting the board not upon hinges but upon a solidsupport-i. 0., the floor of the wagon; fourth, to brace the outer sidesof the wagon sides, which is done by means of vertical bars incombination with the checks of the board.

I construct the board as follows, or substantially so: to the rear endof each sideboard of an ordinary wagon-box I affix, near its upper edge,two or more staples, in or near a horizontal line with each other, forthe adjustable detention of the upper rod which supports the board oneither side, and another eye, (on either side of the wagon,) near thebottom edgeof each side-board, to receive the respective hooks of thelower hooked rods on either side of the wagon.

The shoveling-board is, of course, flat, with a vertical cheek orside-board to right and left attached to it, which pass within thewagon. Extensions beyond these on either side carry parallel side barsat a sufficient distance from said checks to admit the ends of therespective sides of the wagon between said side bars and checks. Theseside bars have each an eye or staple near its middle, to which areattached hooked rods attachable to either of the upper staples, beforementioned, in the respective wagon sides, while a second hook, on eitherside of the board near its junction with the wagon, is made attachableto the respective lower staples or eyes in the wagon side's. Thesedevices allow the board to be instantaneously removed, avoid hinges;obviate a shovel-obstructin g joint, and, when removed, leave notroublesome attachments behind.

One of the forms in which I construct this board is as follows: Arepresents the wagon sides; 6 i, cleats of usual board; B, floor; G,shoveling-board, beveled at its forward lower edge a, to rest upon acorresponding bevel on rear edge of the wagon-floor, and also beveledhorizontally at k, at its rear edge, for convenience. D D are triangularcheeks attached to either side of the board, so as to project within andbeyond the cleats i i, to prevent shovels from striking the latter. E Eare lateral bars (in same plane as the board 0) parallel with the cheeksD D, and one on either side of the same at suffioient distance from eachcheek to allow the respective wagon sides to pass between them, as faras the cross-braces f g h, behind, and to which they are attached. Thebrace h, next to the wagon end, abuts against the floor of the latter,the board itself passing beyond it, h, to rest upon said floor. F F arerods hooked at their forward ends to staples a b in either side-board ofthe wagon, and fixed at their rear ends or eyes in staples in the middlepart of the respective lateral bars E E, so as readily to pass throughthe first retaining-eye, a, to the farther one, I), used when the board0 is closed or vertical. G G are the lower pair of hooks on either sideof the board, attached to either end of the cross-bar it next to thewagon in staples m m, each resting in the opposite eyes d d,respectively.

The advantages of this board may be summed up as follows: Obviation ofhinges or eyes and pintles, and annoyance of breaking these; avoidanceof resting the board on hinges; a better joint with the wagon-floor;avoidance of shovel striking the cleats 13 73; ad vantage of inclosinglateral braces E E for the wagon sides, and acting with checks D D asfirm braces for the otherwise embraced ends of the wagon.

What I claim as my invention is- 1. A shoveling board supported on thewagon bottom by means of a re-entering angle formed by beveled edge aand transverse bar h or recess, in combination with lateral on the Wagonsides, said rods G G acting as hinges when the board 0 is drawn upwardto close the wagon end, substantially as and for purposes described.

3. The board 0, beveled at front lower edge, having cheeks D D, sidebars E E, braces fy 71, or lateral extensions of said board, the bars Eand It, provided with respective hooks F G, substantially as andfor thepurposes specified.

4, The combination, with the Wagon A B, of the board 0, cross-bars jg h,lateral bars E E, hooks F G, and eyes a b d, substantially as and forthe purposes described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this14th day of September, A. D. 1877.

JOHN K. MOLENNAN.

Witnesses:

LUTHER THURLQW, H. W. WELLS.

